BNP Paribas, France’s largest bank, is targeting flow trading and dollar-denominated debt as growth areas at a time when the European sovereign debt crisis is deepening, and European banks are assessing their global reach.

Fred Janbon, global head of fixed income at BNP Paribas, who was speaking to Financial News after the bank reported its first quarter results this morning, said: "The eurozone crisis has strengthened the rationale for global expansion into the US and Asia."